(From Anwar)
One of the questions entering the 2018 season was how Tom Herman intended to utilize the new
redshirt rule, which allowed players to participate in four games without giving up a year of eligibility. Previously, appearing in one game could burn a year of eligibility for a player, but the new rule gave coaches more options.
Some Longhorn observers believed Herman could play his freshmen against weaker teams. Of course, Texas did not blow out any squads, and that opportunity never occurred.
Instead, Herman was pretty clear prior to the season he intended to save the playing opportunities for redshirt candidates until the end of the year.
“If you get banged up early in the season at a couple of different positions, and you know those guys are going to be back in four or five weeks, then you play some of these young guys and then put them back on the shelf,” Herman said during Big 12 Media Days. “If not, ideally, I think you want to wait until the end of the season to when you know historically you’re going to get pretty beaten up and worn down. Hopefully, you’re able to use a lot of your skill, and big skill guys, especially on special teams.”
It is safe to say Herman accomplished his mission.
Texas has been able to redshirt 18 players as a result of the new rule. In addition, 13 of those players were freshmen.
Here is the list of scholarship players who are eligible to redshirt, have not previously redshirted and did not participate in senior day (games played in parentheses):
LB Ayodele Adeoye, FR (4)
QB Shane Buechele, JR (2)
WR John Burt, SR (4)
DL Jamari Chisholm, SR (4)
DL Keondre Coburn, FR (3)
WR/TE Malcolm Epps, FR (2)
DL Moro Ojomo, FR (3)
OL Denzel Okafor, JR (1)
RB Kyle Porter, JR (4)
Freshmen who did not play and redshirted:
OL Junior Angilau
DL Daniel Carson
OL Rafiti Ghirmai
OL Christian Jones
OL Reese Moore
QB Cameron Rising
QB Casey Thompson
LB Byron Vaughns
WR Al'Vonte Woodard
Just for clarity, Longhorn offensive lineman Patrick Hudson did not play this season, but redshirted as a freshman in 2017 and was a sophomore in 2018. Assuming he is cleared to play football in the future, he could seek a sixth-year of eligibility down the road.
One player Herman constantly expressed his happiness about redshirting was receiver John Burt.
Herman talked about the bonus of being able to redshirt Burt on multiple occasions last season. Burt had 28 receptions for 457 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman. He did not have a major impact as a sophomore, but rose to first-string on the depth chart for a brief moment during training camp in 2017.
However, Burt struggled during a scrimmage and dropped multiple passes, and he recorded only 10 passes for 170 yards that season. Burt was forced to come off the bench last season, but with Lil’Jordan Humphrey’s recent announcement about entering the NFL draft, Burt has another more chance to work his way into the lineup this season.
“The redshirt rule, I thought was great,” Herman said in December. “I really did. I still wish we would have just five to play five, but this was a step in the right direction. I feel like we managed it well. We're going to get another year from John Burt, one of the fastest guys in the Big 12. We've got a lot of young guys that got some experience but were able to redshirt. We had some true freshmen that you look at them, their development, where they're at, we had to make some decisions and say, you know, is Jalen Green going to be here for five years? No, he's not going to be here for five years. Let's play him on every special teams, let's get him some reps, some experience.
“I think there were all those different categories of older guys that we wanted to save a year, Denzel Okafor falls into that category. We're going to get another year out of him. That is awesome. If you remember when I first got here, I was actually complaining about everybody wanted to call him a true sophomore last year. He played whatever he played, 27 snaps as a true freshman. I think it went well.”
******
Speaking of
Buechele, it is safe to assume the speculation about his future at Texas will be a constant theme throughout the offseason.
Hang in there.
Apparently, gamblers can bet on which school Buechele will transfer to. Arkansas is the favorite to land Buechele. Nevertheless, Arkansas needs a quarterback now since starting quarterback Ty Storey recently added his name to the transfer portal, and the Razorbacks probably cannot afford to wait.
Laying bets on a player’s future is one way to occupy free time, but there is nothing new to report about Buechele at the moment.
I was told Buechele is not in the transfer portal when I asked on Thursday afternoon, which means the quarterback has not informed anyone associated with the program he intends to leave. Obviously, that could change at any moment. However, if leaving Texas is on Buechele’s agenda, he has not taken any official steps to make it happen.
The first day of class is on January 22, and Buechele is expected to rejoin his team for winter conditioning that week.
I will let you know if anything new develops with Buechele.
